Syrian army’s soldiers walk in a street left in ruins on June 5, 2013 in the city of Qusayr in Syria’s central Homs province, after the Syrian government forces seized total control of the city and the surrounding region. The Syrian army ousted rebels from the strategic town of Qusayr after a blistering 17-day assault led by Hezbollah fighters, scoring a major battlefield success in a war that has killed at least 94,000 people. (Stringer, AFP via Getty Images)

Meanwhile, the U.S. is sending Patriot missiles and fighter jets to neighboring Jordan for military exercises, a move that provoked Russia, Syria’s primary backer, to accuse the West of heightening tensions.

French officials said their tests proved conclusively that chemical weapons had been used in Syria, and in at least one instance it was indisputable that the Syrian government used sarin, a deadly nerve agent.

The Senate confirmation hearing Thursday for White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan to become CIA director may have been tumultuous in the early going, as protesters had to be ejected. But Brennan himself mostly skated through questioning about the administration’s policy toward the use of drones and legal justification for targeted killings, including of Americans.

And while Brennan pledged his commitment to the greatest possible transparency, it sounded distinctly insincere after an exchange with Sen. Mark Udall.

After a long, grueling presidential campaign, we were in the mood for a little levity.

And that’s what we got when we saw a White House photo of U.S. Olympic gymnast McKayla Maroney joined by President Barack Obama in displaying Maroney’s “not impressed” look.

Maroney’s dissatisfied scowl became an Internet meme after the London 2012 Olympics in which she won a silver medal in the individual vault competition. She had been favored to win a gold. Her unhappy mug gained traction on the Internet and was superimposed on images from history, pop culture and current events.

When the U.S. gymnastics team recently visited the White House, the president brought up “the face.”

“We were about to leave and he said, `I want to talk to you one second about the face,'” Maroney told The Assoicated Press. “He said, `I pretty much do that face at least once a day.'”

And thus, a new meme was born. And an amusing moment was injected into a world of serious problems.

There are some people who are angry, really angry, about the outcome of the 2012 presidential election. We get that.

But secession? News that people from 30 states have signed on to secession petitions via the “We the People” page on the White House web site is harsh, yet ironically, an example of the freedoms we enjoy as citizens of this nation.

If these folks are hoping to get President Obama’s attention, well, mission accomplished. But truly, it’s not news that the election was partisan and bitterly so at times.

That several hundred thousand people in a nation of 313 million were angry enough to sign a petition that anyone can see online is a reflection of our digital connectivity and our freedom. In other parts of the world, that sort of dissent would earn you a trip to the gulag.

And there was evidence that employees working for the Defense Department and White House Communication Agency had met up with foreign nationals as well.

That could spell trouble for the White House. Spokesman Jay Carney said in April that an internal investigation had found that neither White House staffers nor the White House advance team had engaged in any misconduct.

At first glance you might think the story out of Chicago about Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s proposal to limit how the city reports illegal immigrants signified the former White House chief of staff was getting sideways with his ex-boss on immigration enforcement.

I know I did. But a close reading of the news stories shows that doesn’t really appear to be the case. Chalk up another one for Emanuel, President Obama’s former right hand man, who works the political game like no one else. They don’t call him Rahmbo for nothing.

Ok, but does that mean that Emanuel somehow was proposing subverting Secure Communities, one of the Obama administration’s key immigration enforcement initiatives? The answer, I believe, is no but you might not think that upon reading Emanuel’s quoted words in the Tribune. Read more…

When George W. Bush took over the White House in 2001, he stated that the administration would carry forward a hands-off policy in regard to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. He indicated that if Israel and the Palestinians wanted to work toward peace, it was up to them, and the U.S. would not get involved.

Now, almost seven years later, Bush thinks that diplomacy might be the way to go. Had he taken this step when he entered office, we might not be involved in an ongoing war in the Middle East that is threatening to expand to Iran. And Israel and its neighbors might not have taken up arms against each other, causing much death and destruction. Read more…

There has never been a better actor occupying the White House than George W. Bush. He will do anything for a photo oppurtunity. This push for peace in the Middle East is a joke. This man should have done something the minute he took office about the problems that are going on there, but he set his sights on another little scheme, Iraq.

Bush puts Ronald Reagan to shame. Former Vice President Al Gore won an Oscar for his movie on global warming; perhaps the Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences should give a “special” award to this president for “Best Way to Create Diversions.”

The revelations of Scott McClellan, former White House press secretary and member of the Bush inner circle, are yet more credible evidence that George W. Bush and Dick Cheney were at the very least privy to, and most likely party to, the efforts to discredit former CIA agent Valerie Plame and her husband, Joe Wilson. Read more…

Vincent Carroll is The Denver Post's editorial page editor. He has been writing commentary on politics and public policy in Colorado since 1982 and was originally with the Rocky Mountain News, where he was also editor of the editorial pages until that newspaper gave up the ghost in 2009.

Guidelines: The Post welcomes letters up to 150 words on topics of general interest. Letters must include full name, home address, day and evening phone numbers, and may be edited for length, grammar and accuracy.

To reach the Denver Post editorial page by phone: 303-954-1331

Posts by Category

Idea Log Archives

About The Idea Log

The idea log The Denver Post editorial board shares commentary and opinion on issues of interest to Coloradans.